Method and apparatus for salvaging artillery ammunition



' April 14, 1925. 1,533,083

G. ALLISON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SALVACING ARTILLERY AMMUNITION I Filed Dec. 8; 1924 SSheetQ-Sheet 1 INVENTOR c Gus/ave Allison QMQM ATTORNEYS April I4, 1925}.

G. ALLISON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SALVAGING ARTILLERY AMMIJ NITION 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec". 8, 1924 I INVENTOR .uslave 141115022.

ATTORNEY5 April 14, 1925. 4 1,533,083

G. ALLISON METHOD AND "APPARATUS FOR SALVAGING ARTILLERY AMMUNITION Filed Dec. 8,1924 3 Sheets Sheet 3 ummumnnm INVENTOR awa e/11115011. 1

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

GUSTAVE ALLISON, OF PERTH AMBOY. NEVI'J'ERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO COLUIVIBIA SAL- VAGE CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CO'RPORATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SALT/AGING ARTILLERY AIVHVIUNITION- Application filed Deccmber s, 1924. Serial No. 754,591;

TocZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. GUSTAVF. ALLISON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Perth Amboy, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Salvaging Artillery Ammunition (Case 17). of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of salvaging artillery ammunition and more particularly to the salvaging of the explosive propelling charges for trench mortar shells.

The explosive charge used in trench mortars is known as ballistite, a smokeless pow der well adapted for sporting ammunition andv therefore possessing considerable commercial value. The ballistite when prepared for artillery use is confined in small tubular silk bags approximately one'half inch in diameter and four inches long. Each bag has its ends stitched together and forms'a ring adapted to be threaded over the'tail piece of a trench mortar shell. Twelve of such rings constitute the propelling charge for a shell. For transportation and storage the rings are packed insealed sheet metal containers each holding twelve rings or" a single propelling charge. In order to recover the ballistite it is necessary to remove the rings from the sheet metal containers and to remove the ballistite from the silk ba 's. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for safely and rapidly recovering large quantities of the powder from its enclosing bags and cont ainers and preparing it for commercial use. v

A further: object is to provide a method and apparatus fol-facilitating the handling Fig. 6 a detail view of one of. the ba llistite rings upon a larger scale;

Fig. 7 means for cutting open the rings or bags and the conveyors connected thereto;

Fig. 8 a detail sectional view of a portion of the conveying means delivering to the bagopening means; i

Fig. 9 a sectional view showing the means "for separating the bags, and the-conveyors connected thereto;

Fig. 10 a sectional view illustrating the screening means for removing the lintefrom the powder. said means;

Fig. 11 a plan view thereof; and i Fig. 12 a sectional view through the means for charging-the powder into sacks and Weighing it. i 8

Referring to the parts by numerals, 1 designates a railroad track, and 2am un-' loading formed witha number'o'f branches each branch platform of spacedhooks ers for the containers 0. .These containers are substa'ntially cylindrical and formed in two halves secured together by a sealing band which encircles the container andis soldered over the meeting edges of the container halves. The sealed containers full of ballistite ringsareunloaded upon the platform 2 from a railroad car and eachcontainer'is placed back of the hooks 5 with its sealing band B between the hooks. The free end of the sealing band is then gripped by a pair of pliers, as shown in Figsz3 and 4, and a straight outward pull exerted upon "it, causing thescontainerto be'rotated and Upon '3 is mounted a "pair the band stripped theretrourto open the 13 ca-rryinga number of blades 14 adapted.

a sectional view illustrating the powder from the opened and the conveyors connected to platform adjacent the track and 5 adapted to-serve as holdvalve 2 1'to a receptacle placed'upon to the other points of operation.

size placed upon the scale platform.

to move past the fixed blades and'cut open the silk bags or rings R. by ancelectric motor and the spaces between the blades of the rotor are bridged by plate '16 which prevent the rings from dropping through the rotor and emerging from the machine' uncut. The opened bags and the powder pass through a chute 16 and fall upon an endles conveyor 17. The conveyor 17 is driven 3 an electric motor 18 and carries the mixture of powder and bags upwardly to deliver them into a chute 19 leading to the hopper 20 of a machine for separating the powder from the bags. This machine comprises a substantially cylindrical screen 21 open at both ends and'adapted to rotate on an inclined axis. The chute 20 delivers into the upper open end of the screen. The screen 21 is rotated by an'electric motor '22 and as .thevpowder and bags, delivered through the chute 20, passdownwardly within the screen the powder is shaken from the open bagsand passes through the mesh of the screen into a chute 23. The lower. end-of the chute i 23 has a deliveryopening adapted to'deliver the powder through a =manually operable aroller conveyor extending beneath the-chute.- The emptied bags pass out through the lower end of the screen and through a discharge a chute 26.

The receptacle wit-lithe separated powder is next pushed over the conveyor 25 to deliver the powder to an oscillating screen 27 0f finer mesh than 'the screen 21. a The screen 27 removes any lint which may have been left in the powder and the screened powder passes through a chute '28 beneath the screen and into a receptacle placed upon a roller conveyor The screen 27 is oscillated by an'eccentric connection. 30 driven by an electric motor The powder now in a condition for com- "mcrcial use and is moved in its receptacle over the'conveyor 29 and delivered 1nto an elevated hopper 32 located'upon a train. loading platform adjacent the track 1. The hopper 32 is located over'the platform of weighing scales Zia-and is adapted to deliver the powder through a manually operated valve or gate 35 into pa'persacks'of suitable FlJG'; powder is weighed in the sacks, packed for shipment upon the platform 31. and loaded upon a car alongside of the platform.

The various operations are performed at widely spaced points in order that in case of a fire occurring at any point through carelessness. it will lie-prevented from spreading The various conveyors provide for "quickly and easily movingthe work from one operation to another and'the entire system is designei'l to facilitate the perforn'iance of the opera- T he rotor is driven out of the cutting machine tions and the handling of the wor from its arrival to the reshipment of the powder. The continuously driven conveyors 8 and 17, owing to their inclination and length, are adapted" to deliver the powder and bags to the rotary cutter and to the rotary screen respectively in the form of a continuous at tenuated stream. This prevents clogging of the cutter anc screen and ensures their efficient operation. By the use of a system such as that shown and described an enormous quantity of powder has been-salvaged with in an extremely short space of time and without the employment of skilled or specially trained labor.

W'hat I claim is:

1. The method of salvaging explosive powder contained in small fabric bags, consisting in delivering the bags in .a continuous attenuated stream into an apparatus. to open the bags, continuously operating said apparatus, delivering the opened bags and powder in a continuous attenuated stream from the bag opening apparatus into an apparatus to separate the opened bags from the powder, and continuously operatingsaid separating apparatus. v

'2. The method of salvaging explosive powder containedin small fabric bags and packed in sealed containers, consisting in 94 rotatably mounting each container in a' holderand exerting a straight outward. pull upon the free end of its sealing band to rotate the container and strip off the band, and performing in succession at widely spaced points the operations of passing the contents of the containers through an apparat-us for opening the bags, through an apparatus for separating the-powder from it, and passing the screened powder into an apparatus for charging it into containers and weighing it. p

3. The method of salvaging explosive powdcrcontained in small fabric bags and.

packed in sealed containers consisting in mounting each container rotatably upon a holder and exerting an outward pull upon the free end of its sealing bandtorotate the container and stripoif the band, passing exerting a straight outward pull upon the the free end of its sealing band to rotate the container and strip off the band, de-

hvermg the contents of the containers over the opened bags, passing the powder 9 through an apparatus for finally screening a power-driven conveyor to apower-driven cutting apparatus to cut the bags open, passing the opened bags and powder over a power-driven conveyor to a power driven screening apparatus for separating the bags from the powder, passing the screened powder over a conveyor to a second screening apparatus for separating the lint therefrom, passing the powder from the second screening apparatusover a conveyor to a hopper located orer a car-loading platform, admitting powder from said hopper to sacks placed upon a scale platform. beneath the hopper to weigh the powder in the sacks, and loading the weighed sacks of powder upon a car adjacent the loading platform.

5. An apparatus for salvaging explosive charges contained in small fabricbags, comprising power-driving rotary cutting means to cut open the bags, a powersdriven ro-' tary screen disposed with its axis of rotation inclined and its opposite ends open, and an endless power-driven conveyor adapted to receive the. opened bags and louder from the cuttin machine and de-' liver them into one of the said open. ends of the screen, whereby the screen will separate the powder from the bags and discharge the bags from its opposite open end.

6. An apparatus for salvaging explosive charges contained in small fabric bags, comprising power-driven rotary cutting means to cut open the bags, a power-driven rotary screen disposed with its axis of rota- 7. An apparatus for salvaging explosive charges contained insmall fabric bags, com-, prising a hopper to receive said bags, a rotary cutter to cut open the bags, means to continuously deliver the bags from the hopper to the cutter, a screen adapted to separate the opened bags from the powder, means to continuously deliver the opened bags and powder from the cutter to said screen, a second screen adapted to remove the lint from the separated powder, a conveyor connecting said twoscreens, means to fill the finally screened powder into sacks and weigh it, and a conveyor connecting said second screen with the said sack filling means.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

GUSTAVE ALLISON. 

